Pugs and mineral lines

Colliery engines operating on works and pit railway lines were known as pug engines.

The shale from the pits was drawn to the retorts at Addiewell by steam locomotives which were better known as “pugs”. The drivers of the pugs were great characters, among them being Jock Caldwell (always pronounced “Jock Carwall”), Jim Cowe, Frank Cowe, Mickie Lee, and Wullie Robertson. These old timers used to stage races with their pugs on their way from Gavieside to the oil works, and the youngsters used to give them a great cheer.

Miss Brown on the footplate

It was on the footplate of one of these pugs that Miss Brown of Addiewell, then headmistress of Gavieside School, used to make her journey night and morning. A difference indeed from the travel facilities of the modern school miss!

Extracted from ‘Characters of Other Days’, by Thomas Fairley; in the Midlothian Advertiser, 25 March 1949, page 4.

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